@article{4dba93b694094bd8b47fa5f2f13a6243,
title = "Acceleration in BMI gain following COVID-19 restrictions. A longitudinal study with 7- to 10-year-old primary school children",
abstract = "Background: The ramifications of COVID-19 restrictions might accelerate the already rising proportion of children with overweight or obesity. Objectives: To assess the association between COVID-19 restrictions and changes in body mass index (BMI) and the proportion of children with overweight or obesity. Methods: Cohort study with baseline measurements in September 2019 (prior to COVID-19 restrictions) and follow-up in June 2020, September 2020, and March 2021 at 12 primary schools in Austria. The height and weight of 738 children aged 7 to 10 years were measured and age- and sex-specific national and international standardized values were calculated. Changes over time were analysed by analysis of variance. Results: Mean BMI IOTF standard deviation scores (SDS) increased by 0.24 (95% CI, 0.21–0.28) between September 2019 and March 2021. The proportion of children with overweight or obesity increased from 20.7% to 26.2% during this period (p < 0.001) using national reference values—EQUI BMI AUT—comparable results were observed. Simultaneously, the height AUT SDS increased by 0.06 (95% CI, 0.05–0.08) with a larger increase in girls (+0.11; p < 0.001) than in boys (+0.03; p = 0.19). Conclusions: COVID-19 restrictions were associated with accelerated increases in mean BMI and the proportion of children with overweight or obesity. The increase in height SDS in girls calls for further investigations. ",
keywords = "BMI, COVID, children, obesity, overweight, primary school",
author = "Gerald Jarnig and Johannes Jaunig and Reinhold Kerbl and Volker Strenger and Gabriele Haeusler and {van Poppel}, {Mireille N. M.}",
note = "Funding Information: This study (and GJ) was funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport (GZ205.410/0014-II/B/5/2018) and organized by the non-profit association NAMOA—Nachwuchsmodell Austria. We would like to thank all participants and their guardians; the trainers and staff of this study. We also thank Wolfgang Modritz for the initiation of this study; Rodrigo A. Lima and Peter Hofmann (University of Graz) for the support in the conception phase; and Hannes Wolf for his help to continue the assessments after the COVID-19 lockdown. We would like to express our thanks to Walter Seeling, IT4Science of the Medical University of Vienna for providing the calculations for the Austrian reference values for heightAUT SDS and EQUI BMIAUT. We also appreciate the flexibility and responsiveness of Christian G{\"u}nter (Austrian Federal Ministry of Sport) in the everchanging situations of this pandemic. The funder of the study had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report. All authors had full access to the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. The authors acknowledge the financial support by the University of Graz for the Open Access license fee. Funding Information: This study (and GJ) was funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport (GZ205.410/0014‐II/B/5/2018) and organized by the non‐profit association NAMOA—Nachwuchsmodell Austria. We would like to thank all participants and their guardians; the trainers and staff of this study. We also thank Wolfgang Modritz for the initiation of this study; Rodrigo A. Lima and Peter Hofmann (University of Graz) for the support in the conception phase; and Hannes Wolf for his help to continue the assessments after the COVID‐19 lockdown. We would like to express our thanks to Walter Seeling, IT4Science of the Medical University of Vienna for providing the calculations for the Austrian reference values for height SDS and EQUI BMI. We also appreciate the flexibility and responsiveness of Christian G{\"u}nter (Austrian Federal Ministry of Sport) in the everchanging situations of this pandemic. The funder of the study had no role in study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report. All authors had full access to the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. The authors acknowledge the financial support by the University of Graz for the Open Access license fee. AUT AUT Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors. Pediatric Obesity published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of World Obesity Federation.",
year = "2022",
month = jun,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1111/ijpo.12890",
language = "English",
volume = "17",
journal = "Pediatric Obesity",
issn = "2047-6302",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
number = "6",
}